For You: A Little More
by SkItZoFrEaK
Summary: Yes, Tuesday is the very best of days, he thinks. Lee. Sakura. Neji. Gai
1. Of Weights and Water

Notes: So a long time ago I wrote a fic called "For You," which was a Lee/Sakura story. It was shortish, and not all that serious (particularly the final chapter), and I liked writing it but didn't invest a whole lot of myself into it. Then, for some strange and inexplicable reason, I suddenly dug up an old story I started awhile ago featuring Sakura, and then re-wrote it to fit into the "For You" storyline….the moral of this story is that I ended up writing two little semi-sequel(ish) one shots that I decided to tack on. What the hell. Here they are.

Of Weights and Water

Somewhere, someone was having a nice, peaceful evening. How could they not? It was the kind of evening that even the most anti-poetic individual could, at the least, describe as "lovely." Deep in the lush forests of Konoha, far from prying eyes and bustling cities, the last golden rays of sunlight reflected on the silvery waves of the lake as the evening drew her purple veil across the sky. The world was a poem, sung by the sweet-voiced nightingale.

Three feet under the surface, Sakura watched the first glittering star dance into view and swore that if she made it home alive, she was going to burn all her poetry books. And then she just swore. That was a mistake. A lungful of bubbles escaped her mouth and rushed merrily upwards to the surface of the lake, while her mouth and lungs sank another inch or so deeper.

Sakura was not having a nice evening.

To be honest, she had only herself to blame. Her long-standing need to be the best in class, coupled with her burning desire to grow in strength and her compulsive perfectionism had brought her to this end. And it wasn't much of an end, as far as ninja ends went, she thought bitterly. (I mean, what self-respecting shinobi dies of _drowning?)_

Her lungs were starting to burn now, and she started kicking viciously with her feet. It was cheating to swim – she was supposed to be using her chakra to propel herself up and then to walk calmly across the surface. Still, cheating was better than sinking. Her legs ached, her lungs burned, and the surface still looked much too far away for comfort. The watery world around her began to dim, she was going to _die _down here in the cold, wet lake (seriously, Inner Sakura snorted, this is just pathetic in so many ways), her chest constricted, her legs lashed out, and with a last desperate surge of energy, she _pushed –_

- and burst through the silver barrier with an explosive hacking cough.

She wasn't a great swimmer (who bothered with swim lessons in a ninja village?) but with much thrashing and kicking, she managed to muscle her way through the water until her sandaled feet touched the muddy bottom. Tired, dirty, and cold, she trudged up the shore and threw herself down against a nearby tree, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. "Okay," she murmured soothingly to her frazzled nerves. "It's okay. Tsunade-sensei said this would be challenging." (And didn't she just look a little too smug when she said it, her inner voice grumbled. I should have known it was going to be miserable.)

Sakura shook her head. "It's okay if it takes me a few times. I'm not going to figure it out in a day. It's _supposed_ to be hard. I can do this. I _can._"

"Lee's rubbing off on you, isn't he?"

She was already up and moving before the first word was complete, and by the time the voice had stopped speaking, Sakura was crouched three feet away, kunai in hand and eyes scanning the leaves. "I'm not here to fight you," the voice said, male, young, calm, and with a certain edge that denoted a competent fighter. _Shinobi_, she added to her snap-assessment. As a body dropped gracefully to the ground a few inches from where she had been sitting, she finished with _non-threatening _and stood fully upright again.

"Hyuuga Neji," she greeted him politely. "Good evening. I certainly didn't expect to meet you out here at this hour of the day."

"Who _did_ you expect?"

"Uh…" She tried to shrug casually, tried to make her voice light and carefree. It was difficult; those white-in-white eyes seemed to be staring at her, through her, and around her all at once. "Well, you know," she laughed humorlessly. "Shinobi rule number seven: if you cannot see an enemy, look behind you."

"Rule number eight: if you cannot sense an enemy, you have already lost the fight." Neji walked towards, stopping just out of arm's reach. "Addendum to number eight," he said with exactly the kind of casual tone that had eluded Sakura, "always keep your senses alert."

She didn't drop the polite smile, but mentally, she stomped on his foot. Hard. "You're right, that was careless of me," she managed after a beat. "I am sorry." There, she thought. (He snuck up on me so he could do his duty and admonish a lower-ranked ninja for being incautious. He'll probably leave now.)

It was a little too dark now for her to see his eyes well without staring, but she got the impression that he was looking her up and down. "You are also wet," he remarked.

"I noticed," she replied dryly.

She wondered if her response displeased him. She wondered if he even registered the vague attempt at humor. She wondered if he ever had any expression on his face except unruffled indifference. "Why?" Neji asked. "Surely you have mastered the chakra control necessary to walk on the surface by now?"

"Of course," Sakura swallowed back the sudden spasm of anger that squeezed her chest tighter than the lack of air. (It isn't his fault he assumes I'm a talentless weakling, she tried to tell the iron bands of anger around her heart. It's not like he's seen me much since the first chunin exams…) She swallowed again, biting back the bile and bitterness of _those_ particular memories. "Of course I've mastered walking on water. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem at all. Heck, normally I could _dance _on it, no problem."

She turned from him and stared out at the lake, it's surface now grown ominously dark in the deepening gloom of the oncoming night. "But today I'm having some…trouble."

"I assume it has something to do with your unusual choice of footwear," he remarked, shifting his weight slightly behind her. She tensed, but he had merely crossed his arms and settled back on his heels. Apparently, he wasn't planning on leaving any time soon.

Sakura automatically lifted one leg up a little off the ground, and then mentally made a face at herself. What is she doing, showing off her legs like they're up for inspection? "Lee gave them to me. They've got pockets for the special training weights that Tsunade-sensei told me to start wearing." She reached down and hooked one finger into the soft material of the boot, smiling a little as she adjusted it against her calf. Lee had been almost indecently enthusiastic when she'd told him about the special weights, and had presented her with the boots as if _he_ were the one getting the gift.

Neiji's eyes flicked casually down to her legs and back up again. "I know." (Right, Inner Sakura shuddered. He can see through things. Like boots. And shirts. But I'm not thinking about that. Not at all.) His voice cut into her musings, and there was a note of disapproval behind the indifference. "They don't look heavy."

"They're not physical weights," she explained, turning back to face him and holding out her arms, palms up. "They're chakra weights. I haven't completely figured out how they work, but I know that they work by messing with your chakra."

"And the disruption of chakra flow benefits you in some way?" He sounded bored, but his arms unfolded and he took a step forward. (Stop staring at his face, Inner Sakura waved her arms frantically. He'll think you're disrespectful or something.)

"Is the challenge to figure out the pattern of the disrupted chakra?" he asked, and suddenly sounded a little less like a self-contained ANBU evaluating a new training method and a little more like a young man checking out a new toy. It wasn't much, but it dissipated the irritation that she had been building up in her chest.

"I don't think they're disrupting chakra flow." Sakura tilted her head slightly, regarding her shins thoughtfully. "I mean, all Tsunade-shishou told me was that they were chakra weights, and my assignment was to walk on water while wearing them." (She also said they would be my favorite training method to hate for a long time, Sakura sighed inwardly. But I'll worry about those miseries when they get here.)

"An assignment which you appear to be failing." He took a step closer and knelt at her feet, examining her boots in a way that almost made her too uncomfortable to be offended.

Almost.

(No need to be a jerk! Inner Sakura snapped into his satisfyingly startled face.) "It's been a damp day," she said politely to the top of his head.

"Why is that, if these 'weights' are not disrupting your chakra flow as you claim?"

"I'm not sure exactly what they're doing, but I know it's not a total disruption of flow, because I can still feel the chakra in my hands and feet. I just can't seem to control it." Sakura was starting to feel restless and antsy under the scrutiny, but she didn't dare move her legs. Not with the nose of an esteemed jounin inches away. She had a sudden giddy desire to twitch her knees towards his face. Maybe it would be funny. Maybe he would jump in surprise. Maybe he would slice off her feet. Maybe it wasn't really a good idea.

"Hold still," he commanded, and closed his eyes briefly. That was all the warning she got, but it was enough to keep her from snatching her arms back and possibly taking a swing at him out of pure reflex when his eyes snapped back open. The veins in his face bulged, and the white irises looked strained. Worse, Sakura could _feel_ him looking at her, a sensation that sent little shivers racing up and down her spine and all her limbs.

Finally, after an eternity of about five seconds, he blinked again, and his face returned to an expression of relatively relaxed indifference. He looked up at her. He opened his mouth. She leaned forward, eager to know what he was going to say.

"Ah," he said. "Interesting."

And then he nodded politely. "Good evening."

He was halfway back to the tree line when a small bomb went off behind him, just missing his left heel. He stepped to the left, neatly avoiding the flash of pink on his right. She skidded to a halt, spun on her toe, and came to an abrupt standstill inches in front of him. "Oh," she said in a low voice he had never heard. "No. You. Don't."

He folded his arms and watched her innocently, looking for all the world like he was merely out for a stroll and had no idea who the strange girl with the glowering face could be. "Yes, Haruno?"

"Oh, come on," she stamped her foot, a little. "You can't _do_ that."

He shrugged. "I thought this was a training exercise for you. I'd hate to give away the secret and ruin all your fun."

She pursed her lips. "I'll forgive you, I promise."

He let her glower for another moment, and then gestured to her left leg. Wordlessly, she stepped it forward. "In a normal, healthy individual," he told her in a lecture-tone that rivaled her own, "the flow of chakra creates an aura that extends out from the body by several inches, depending on the strength of the chakra." He held a finger about four inches away from her thigh. "Here. However, your chakra aura is currently extended to only about," he lowered his hand until his fingertip hovered mere centimeters above her skin, "here."

Sakura suppressed the urge to twitch; the almost-contact made her skin itch ever so slightly. "That means the chakra flow is being slowed, right?"

"Actually, I think it's being repressed."

"Eh?"

"I think these weights are constricting the flow, keeping the channels tighter, more coiled. It means that when you want to use chakra, say, when you want to extend it out beyond the soles of your feet, you have to exert yourself far more in order to force it to flow at normal levels."

She gaped at him, then at her wrists, then out at the lake. "Ah," she said at last. "Interesting."

"Indeed."

"Forcing chakra to flow at an accelerated rate like that will eventually damage body tissue," she murmured, still eyeing the lake. "It will disrupt muscle and fat, and dehydrate the organs. Probably rupture derma cells."

"You think these weights will harm you?"

"I think," she sighed, "that this is going to hurt like hell." (But hey, Inner Sakura perked up. Lee will probably give me one of his backrubs when I come home battered and sore. That pretty much makes the pain worth it.)

Neji nodded, probably unaware of her sudden diverging line of thought. "I can see why you called them weights. They force the chakra to work harder at simple tasks, as Lee's weights force his muscles to work harder to move."

"Thank you for your help," Sakura said. "I apologize if I disturbed you earlier with all my noise. I'm afraid I'm going to have to be rude and leave you now." She smiled at him, but the corners of her mouth hardened with determination as she looked back at the lake. "I've got a lot of work to do."

She walked towards the lake, and hours later, still wet, cold, and happy, she walked back onto an empty shore.

******

A/N: Yeah, I know. Calling this a Lee/Saku when Lee isn't even in it is pretty ballsy of me, if I do say so myself.


	2. Of A Tuesday

Notes: Written in present tense, because it sounded better that way.

And no, I don't think Sakura and Lee's relationship would be perfect. I don't think they would get along and never have any arguments. And I certainly don't think that certain neurosis on either of their parts would just up and vanish when they were together at last. So this section kinda sorta hints at some of the difficulties that they might have to face someday.

Of A Tuesday

Lee loves Tuesdays. They are, in his opinion, one of the best days of the week.

He spins, letting his body weight shift with the movement, throwing his leg out and feeling the satisfied _thwack!_ of flesh on flesh as he hits his target. The force of the blow (_right between the lumbar and thoracic vertebrae! Gai-sensei, this style is awesome!_) is mighty enough to knock his opponent several feet away. He sails headfirst into the trees, but Lee knows better than to waste energy worrying that he's hurt him.

On Tuesdays, Lee knows that he is strong.

Sure enough, his opponent is back in mere seconds, dropping silently down from a completely different direction than the one in which he vanished. Lee feels more than sees the attack, and ducks so fast that he nearly gets a blood rush to his head from the sudden movement. But his body has, over time, become good at compensating for his speed. His blood flows just fast enough to feed the enormous demand of his super-charged muscles, but not too fast to overstrain his heart. His brain has already shut down any function not one-hundred percent necessary for survival, and poured all that free energy into what _was. _Like, for example, throwing himself back and away from the lethal fist flying a hair-s width from his left ear. He didn't see it coming but he doesn't really need to, in a flash he's moved three feet to the left and about ten feet up, twisting in air until he's practically upside down.

On Tuesdays, Lee knows he is fast.

"Excellent!" his opponent bellows up at him, teeth shining in the early-morning sun like white beacons of spirited energy. "I see you have been working on the Darting Sparrow techniques, my vigorous young friend!"

Lee opens his mouth to call back, and throws his weight into a sudden spin to the right. His angle is not quite steep enough, however, and he finds himself in a powerful chokehold as the booming voice laughs into his ear, "But there is always room for perfection!"

Lee can feel the air slowly shutting off to his body, and his first instinct is to twist and throw his shoulder into his opponent's back, to loosen the hold and maybe pull his head free. He tenses his muscles to do just that, but at the last second, lashes back and up with his flexible legs. His opponent, who had of course felt the muscle tension and read it correctly, is completely surprised to find a bony heel smashing into the back of his skull instead. With a shout, he falls forward, arms loosing just enough for Lee to break free. And _now_ Lee twists, just enough to bring his arm up and around and slam a fist into his opponent's back.

Or almost.

He misses – misses! – and his opponent is already half way across the field and leaning casually against the training post as if he's been there for ages. Shock aside, Lee lands gracefully next to him, and bows. "Gai-sensei!" He accuses, standing up straight again immediately. "You were holding back! That last dodge was far faster than any before."

"Nonsense!" his mentor and friend laughs heartily, clapping Lee on the back so hard that he almost thinks it's another attack. "I used the last of my energy to get away from a blow that otherwise would have shattered several valuable bones!" He laughs again, as if nothing delighted him more than the prospect of crippling injuries at the hands of his favorite former pupil.

"So, Lee, how do you like the Darting Sparrow techniques? You have, of course, mastered them supremely since last month!"

"Excellent, Gai-sensei," Lee responds, meaning it. "I find the challenge of changing the direction of one's momentum in mid-air interesting, as well as useful."

He smiles brightly back at his teacher, elated that he's making such good progress with this new skill in so short a time. The first few days he tried it, he'd nearly broken his _own_ back trying some of the more complicated twists. But he's got the secret now, he's figured out that if he pulls _this_ muscle just so and at the same time _that_ muscle just a bit…well, it's not all that tough, and amazingly useful, indeed.

He can't wait to try it in a spar with Neiji. His great rival has for years been able to accurately read and react to Lee's trajectories and paths of motion based on his knowledge of simply physics – if Lee jumps up, he will go up until gravity brings his weight back down. But if Lee can go up and then, say, _left_…

He can't _wait_ to try it with Neiji.

Lee takes a deep breath. "Gai-sensei, I still need to work on that last move, however. You moved out of my range far too easily."

Gai-sensei smashes him on the back again, and laughs with delight as he accurately reads the expression on Lee's face. "Well, we shall simply have to try again, my lively friend! Ah, the boundless energy of youth!"

"Actually, Gai-sensei, before you try to kill him again, may I borrow him for a minute?"

Lee whirls around at the new voice, face already breaking into a huge grin. He was so focused on replaying that last move, he hadn't even felt her come up. Of course, by the momentary startled look on Gai-sensei's face, he hadn't either, which meant she had come up quietly on purpose. He thinks briefly that he'll ask her about that later, but for the moment he's too happy to see her to care.

"Ah, good morning, Sakura! It's is, naturally, wonderful to see your bright and youthful face on such a lovely morning!" Gai-sensei waves a hand at Lee. "Of course, please don't let me stop you from professing your great and undying love! Young love is the greatest of inspirations, the mightiest of motivations, the – "

He goes on for awhile, but Lee has stopped listening for the moment (and only feeling a tiny little bit guilty about it, because he has never ignored a word his teacher has said, but somehow, her smile seems just a little bit more important right now). He's already across the training area and standing before her, grinning and holding out one bandaged hand.

Sakura grins back, although he can see that she's exhausted. She takes his hand, and he notes with some surprise that her skin is chilled, and just a little bit damp. Instantly, he feels concern bubble up in his chest. "Sakura? Are you alright?"

She nods, waving her other hand dismissively. "Fine, fine, just a little tired. And wet." She makes a face at the last word, but it's an ironic, joking sort of face, and he relaxes. "Sorry to drag you away from training," she says, glancing over his shoulder at where Gai-sensei, realizing at last that his audience has deserted him (or perhaps not – it's conceivable that he simply ran out of poetic things to say for the moment) and is doing a rigorous set of one handed pushups.

"I'm glad you came," he tells her, as sincerely as he can. "I wish you would come more."

She winks, "Ah, but what would Gai-sensei think, if I showed up all the time and usurped his training regime with you?"

"Oh, he'd love your enthusiasm!" Lee responds automatically. "In fact, I'm certain he would be honored and delighted to have you join us!" He starts to say more, but she puts a finger on his lips, her face a picture of laughter and alarm.

"Don't even think about putting a thought like that into his head, Rock Lee! I've got a limited supply of pain-tolerance, and right now, Tsunade-sensei's got claim to most of it." She lets her fingertip linger a moment longer, even though they both know he's not about to talk while it's there. Then she sighs and drops her arms. "Besides," she mutters, "I love you and all, but there are only so many exclamation points one can stand to hear in a single sentence before one's brain collapses."

He says nothing, still so happy she's there, but a little bit of his joy dims at that comment. Lee knows, better than anyone ever seems to think, that Gai-sensei's particular brand of enthusiasm and energy is…well, difficult for most people. Different. And he knows that Sakura once put a lot of energy into being exactly what isn't different, or difficult for most people. She still does, he thinks.

It doesn't make him love her any less, but sometimes, deep down, it worries him a little.

"Well, anyway, I just wanted to let you know," she looks up at him through pale pink eyelashes for a moment, and then her sly little smile vanishes into a big, radiant grin. "I did it! It took me all night, but I _did it._"

Instantly he understands. Tsunade-sama had given her a particularly unusual set of weights to wear, and he knew she had been worried about her ability to perform the task set her with those weights. So worried that she had been almost incapable of sleep the night before, and hadn't even come over last night as usual. Now he knew why. She'd trained all night!

And, if her damp skin was any indication, she'd come straight to him.

To him.

Instantly, he's as happy as he's ever been. He sweeps her up into his arms and spins her around, thrilled for her. "Congratulations, Sakura! I knew you could do it! You're amazing!"

Sakura allows him to spin her for a moment, hugging his neck and laughing. Then she struggles out of his arms, pushing his gently back. "Okay, I'll let you do your thing now. Besides, I really need a shower and a nap. Like crazy."

He lets her move back and away despite the urge to pull her in. He knows she likes to be kissed, likes to be touched. But not in public, he's finding. Probably shy or something, he figures, and though he wants to touch her, kiss her with everything he's got, he doesn't.

"I'll see you later." She winks at him, waves goodbye to Gai-sensei over his shoulder, and walks back into the trees towards Konoha.

Lee watches her go for a minute, and then turns back to his mentor, still smiling. Gai-sensei winks at him, and breaks his nose.

Lee grins shamefaced through the stream of blood now running down his face, and puts his guard back up instantly. "Good work, my dynamic opponent!" Gai-sensei calls approvingly from a few feet away, out of range of Lee's retaliatory kicks. "Marvelous recovery!" Lee grins, swipes at his face, and launches himself out into the field again, muscles singing as he hurls himself at the man he's always seen as a surrogate father.

Yes, Tuesday is the very best of days, he thinks.

On Tuesdays, Lee knows he is loved.

******

A/N: And this is it. I ran out of inspiration here. But hey, these were fun to bang out on a Friday afternoon, and in the end that's more or less the point of fanfiction. It's good writing practice and it's something fun to do. So. Hope you liked it.


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